Area school systems consider online textbooks

WASHINGTON – The digital revolution in the classroom has come to Fairfax County, the Washington-area’s largest school system.

Social studies classes from seventh to 12th grades have been using online textbooks this school year. The move helps keep kids’ backpacks a little lighter, since they don’t have to lug books back and forth from school.

Now, a new survey is going out to ask middle and high school students about how they’re using online books. The survey is being conducted for the Fairfax County School Board, and students have until Feb. 1 to complete it.

Several other school systems in the region also are taking a look at using online textbooks, including systems in Loudoun and Prince William counties in Virginia and Montgomery County in Maryland.